Meet Your K-8 Art Teacher
Have questions? Reach out any time!
Dann Hagstrom
Dann grew up with art supplies always at his fingertips. Finding his own creative challenges in middle school, he had his first official art class in high school. Through much creative exploration, he fell in love with photography. Dann earned his college degree in Visual Arts and later became a teacher.
He has had the wonderful opportunity to teach all grades throughout the years, including K-6th, middle and high school.
Dann’s first passion is helping students learn enriching exercises with art. He enjoys creating his own artwork as well while continuing to improve his artistic skills with a recent focus on watercolor painting. He consistently works on his drawing skills and has a lot of interest in simple, colorful designs that play with geometry.
K – 8 Class Information
Art K-2: Art K-1-2 is about learning how to use a lot of cool art supplies and build skills for all kinds of art making that will launch students into a creative future in school and at home. We start by learning how to draw IN COLOR with materials that immediately make students feel like a success.
Art 3-5: Here is a quick scan of what we will do this year in art!
We will study well-known artists who do fun and interesting work that will inspire our expressive projects.
We will learn how to take advantage of color pencils for 3D and abstract projects by learning how to use them skillfully. We will also do 3D projects that are different from what you’ve probably tried before. We will build stuff with… toilet paper! We will also do a craft that has been done for centuries called quilling, where we curl colored paper strips and glue them down into beautiful designs.
For painting this year, we will use a different watercolor paint style that will take some learning and practice, but will allow us to do some new work styles.
We will build drawing skills and learn some cool 3D effects to improve our work. Are you on board? We will have a blast as we work together as a class to support each other and do some great projects.
Art 6-8: Art for middle school is driven by artistic literacy through studying contemporary artists and famous artists of the past. The art we study, in turn, leads us to develop technical skills with various art media to create our original works. The school-provided supplies allow us to draw with graphite, charcoal, oil pastels, different paints, and sculpture using clay and even toilet paper! Students begin with foundational exercises on line, shape, value, and texture, gradually advancing to more complex topics like proportion, perspective, form, and composition. Assignments encourage students to solve problems in ways that apply the Elements of Art and Principles of Design to produce their original work.
I hope you join us for a year-long adventure in art class with students like you! I (Mr. Dann) will make sure you have fun! Please don’t worry about what you “can’t” do; let’s have fun together making stuff by following along with me on-screen and trying your experiments! It is satisfying to make art. We will create something every day of class!
Meet Your Digital Arts Teacher
David Cameron
David is a filmmaker and educator with a passion for storytelling. Earning his bachelor’s degree in Filmmaking, he produced several successful short films that reflected his love of storytelling.
The art of communication drew him to the teaching profession. Video production is a vital form of modern communication and David desires to equip students with audiovisual tools and materials to share ideas, explore a topic of interest, and/or for entertainment.
He is eager to teach students about the world of Digital Arts! Each lesson will empower them to utilize a variety of technologies to create content that amplifies their voices and beliefs!
Digital Arts K-12 Information
Digital Arts and Storytelling K-2: Young artists will explore the basics of digital art through fun, hands-on projects using Tux Paint on their Chromebooks. Students will create colorful drawings while learning simple design tools like shapes, lines, colors, and stamps. Projects may include dot drawings, silly cityscapes, animals made from shapes, and more! Along the way, students will also discover how artists create cartoon characters and tell stories through pictures. This class builds creativity, confidence, and early tech skills in a playful and supportive environment.
Digital Arts and Storytelling 3-5: Utilizing the digital art platform, Tux Paint, students learn how to plan, design, and complete their own original artworks. Projects will include pointillism-inspired drawings, imaginative cityscapes, patterned animals, and characters built from geometric forms. Students develop a stronger understanding of how digital art connects to animation, games, and media in the real world. They’ll discover how professional artists use character design, facial expression, and background details to create memorable and visually compelling stories. This course fosters digital literacy, creativity, and confidence.
Digital Art 6-8: Students will learn the principles of digital art and graphic design, using artistic techniques and computer tools to convey ideas in creative visual presentations through a variety of formats. This course will include lessons on how to utilize digital art software such as Canva to create a portfolio of digital works that include art pieces like personal logos, dream company brands, fictional movie posters, and more!
CVHS Digital Filmmaking: Students will learn to use industry-standard software like Adobe Premiere Pro and while going through each step of the filmmaking process. These steps will range from developing and pitching film concepts, screenwriting and script formatting, storyboarding for camera, as well as filming and video editing. Towards the end of this course, students will be able to produce their own thesis film to showcase everything they have learned and share a story of their own choosing.
CVHS Digital Arts: Students will explore the fundamentals of digital art, graphic design, and digital media sharing. This course introduces key tools in the Adobe Creative Cloud, including Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, and more. These programs help creatives produce a myriad of unique designs, learn how to create and edit photos, design graphics, build web content, and edit video. Each project emphasizes layered design techniques, guiding students in producing sophisticated and visually dynamic digital artwork.
Meet Your H.S. Art Teacher
Have questions? Reach out any time!
Kimberly.boyd@CottonwoodK12.org
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 3:30-4:30
Kimberly Boyd
Kimberly finds the maker and creative in every student! Often pulling from the student as a “whole” learner, classes are built to embrace the individual artist through their personal interests and styles.
With over 35 years of experience working with K-12 students and adults, Kimberly has implemented a wide range of creative initiatives, including classroom instruction, after-school programs, art camps, and pop-up art events. She values deeply the unique vulnerability that accompanies the creative process and the power of self-expression. Kimberly truly recognizes and nurtures the distinctive voice that emerges through each creator’s work.
Curating creative experiences that ignite artistic interest, spark wonder, and explore various mediums is at the heart of Kimberly’s work. She provides a framework for students to build skills and express themselves, all while fostering fun and joy in the vast world of visual arts.
High School Class Information
Our High School Visual Arts program offers a wide variety of creative learning experiences. Classes are taught live through our CVHS program and include: Visual Arts 1 and Visual Arts: Independent Design.
Visual Arts 1 is an introductory course and is built on the foundations of the Art Elements and Design Principles utilizing a broad range of art mediums (materials) to expose students to a variety of creative opportunities. Students will explore and apply drawing and painting techniques to produce character illustrations, advertisements, comic panels, print ready art and more! Students will identify and develop their personal style and artistic voice across both semesters.
Visual Arts: Independent Design embraces the individual artists autonomy to express themselves through their chosen medium. Students design targeted projects that will grow their artistic style while developing key skillsets for today’s artist. This is a powerful class that allows immense growth and exposure to a variety of careers in the Arts.
Art Gallery
Our Art Gallery will “showcase” varied student artworks through out the year! If you would like to have your child’s work in our virtual gallery please fill out this form: Art Gallery Submission
FAQs about Art Classes
Q: Does my student need to know how to draw?
A: Nope! Art is more than drawing and painting.
Q: Will my student learn specific techniques?
A: Yes! They will learn techniques using a variety of art mediums (materials) such as paint, markers, textiles, clay, sculpture, collage, you name it.
Q: What if my student doesn’t have any art supplies?
A: Class supplies can be purchased with student funds!
Q: Will my student be able to express themselves in their style?
A: Abolutely! We encourage it!
Q: What types of lessons are provided?
A: All students will be guided through lessons focused on core art concepts. Modifications and additional challenges are provided per the student’s learning level.
Q: What is the learning environment like?
A: Classes are filled with fun, encouragement, and connections while learning how to express themselves creatively!
Artist Toolbox
Grow your creative skills with these artist
tips and techniques.
Art Elements
Artists use “Art Elements” such as Line, Value, Shape, Form, Color, Texture, and Space as tools to create a composition.
Design Principles
Artists use “Design Principles” such as Balance, Harmony, Emphasis, Proportion etc. to organize the artworks elements into a cohesive composition.
Drawing Guides
Use these simple approaches to begin your drawing composition.
Shading Helper
These shading techniques help to achieve a stronger composition that turns a 2D drawing into a 3D image.
Color Wheel (Theory)
The Color Wheel informs artists how different colors work together to create a strong artwork.
Find Art in your World!
Take an “Art Walk” Analyze, Describe, Consider, Interpret, Notice, and Discuss all the art you see.
